Study Says Biomass Releases More CO2 than Coal over Time

Power plants that burn wood and other biomass from forests release more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere over time than do coal-fired plants concluded a new study commissioned by Massachusetts environmental officials.

The report from the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences suggested that net emissions from biomass-fired facilities would be 3 percent larger by 2050 than if those facilities remained coal-fired.

The six-month study is prompting state officials to re-examine proposed state policy encouraging the development of biomass-based power. The current administration has spent $1 million on four proposed wood-burning plants, which now may need to be reconsidered.

Biomass advocates have pointed out that trees used for fuel can be replanted—thereby recapturing the carbon released. But the report’s authors arrived at their conclusions by comparing the emissions related to burning the wood with the quantity of CO2 that could be removed by forest re-growth.

Recommendations included requirements for facilities to obtain wood from forests with approved management plans, as well as suggestions to protect the soil and biodiversity at locations where trees were being harvested.

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